The above table serves as a snapshot of the typical factors that impact ridership, and illustrates the differences which exist between the current month and the same month in the previous year. If a change occurred, it is categorized to represent a (typically) positive, negative or neutral impact on ridership. More details on the observed impacts are noted in the description of ridership results below. ​

​Local Network Overview

Local Bus

Monthly Total

There were 4,661K boardings in July 2017 compared to 4,655K in July 2016, an increase of 6K boardings (or less than 1 percent increase) on local bus service.

Average Daily Ridership: Weekday / Saturday / Sunday

Average daily ridership decreased on Weekday and Saturday and increased on Sunday in July 2017 compared to 2016. Weekday average daily ridership decreased by 1K boardings (or 1 percent decrease), Saturday average daily ridership decreased by less than 1K (or 1 percent decrease), and Sunday average daily ridership increased by approximately 3K boardings (or 3 percent increase) in 2017.

​Light Rail

Monthly Total

There were 1,504K boardings on all three light rail lines in July 2017, compared to 1,436K boardings in July 2016, an increase of 68K boardings (or 5 percent). Ridership increased on two of three rail lines in July 2017. Relative to July 2016, Green line ridership increased by 59 percent; and Purple line ridership increased by 24 percent. Red line ridership decreased by less than 1 percent. A major factor contributing to the Green line ridership increase is the extension of the Green line to Magnolia Park Transit Center on January 11, 2017. While there was an additional special event on the Red line in July 2017 relative to the previous year (an international soccer event at NRG Stadium), this positive ridership impact was negated by two days of service interruptions. The Green and Purple lines had one additional special event (Gold Cup soccer) in July 2017 relative to the previous year.

Average Daily Ridership: Weekday / Saturday / Sunday

Average light rail Weekday ridership increased by 3K (or 4 percent) in July 2017 compared to July 2016. Average light rail Saturday ridership increased by 2K (or 6 percent) while average light rail Sunday ridership increased by 2K (or 7 percent). Average Weekday ridership on the Red line increased by less than by 1 percent while average Saturday increased by 1 percent and average Sunday ridership on the Red Line increased by less than 1 percent over July 2016. Average Weekday, Saturday and Sunday ridership on the Green line showed increases of 60 percent, 46 percent, and 64 percent and the Purple line showed increases of 25 percent, 20 percent, and 21 percent over July 2016 respectively. As stated in the paragraph above, the Green line was extended to Magnolia Park Transit Center on January 11, 2017, resulting in two additional stations relative to the previous year.

Total Local Network

Monthly Total

There were 6,165K boardings in July 2017 compared to 6,092K in July 2016, an increase of approximately 74K boardings (or 1 percent increase).

Average Daily Ridership: Weekday / Saturday / Sunday

Weekday average daily ridership increased by 1K boardings (or less than 1 percent increase) year over year. Saturday average daily ridership increased by approximately 1K boardings (or 1 percent increase) year over year. Sunday average daily ridership increased by approximately 4K boardings (or 4 percent increase) year over year.

​Commuter Network Overview

Park & Ride

Monthly Total

There were 594K Park and Ride boardings in July 2017 compared to 616K boardings in July 2016, a decrease of approximately 22K boardings (or 4 percent decrease).

Average Daily Ridership: Weekday

Average Weekday ridership in July 2017 was 30K boardings compared to 31K boardings July 2016, a decrease of less than 1K boardings (or 3 percent decrease). According to the most recent Origin-Destination Survey, 94 percent of all Park and Ride trips are work-based trips. The increase in unemployment relative to the previous year is a major contributor to the decrease in ridership.

Entire Network Summary

Monthly Total

There were 6,759K boardings on the entire fixed-route network in July 2017 compared to 6,707K boardings in July 2016, an increase of 52K boardings (or 1 percent increase).

Average Daily Ridership: Weekday / Saturday / Sunday

Average daily ridership for the entire fixed-route network increased on Weekday, Saturday and Sunday. Average weekday ridership increased by less than 1K boardings (or less than 1 percent increase), average Saturday ridership increased by 1K boardings (or 1 percent increase), and average Sunday ridership increased by 4K boardings (or 4 percent increase).